1. Field of the Invention (Technical Field)
The present invention relates to methods and apparatuses for pulsed power switching.
2. Description of Related Art
Switching can be considered to be the essence of pulsed power. Time accurate switch/trigger systems with low inductance are useful in many applications. It can be challenging to generate high voltage (more than 50 kilovolts) into impedances less than 10Ω, from a low voltage control signal with a fast rise time and high temporal accuracy. The required power amplification is large, and is usually accomplished with multiple stages. The multiple stages can adversely affect the temporal accuracy and the reliability of the system. In certain applications, a highly reliable and low jitter trigger generator is required.
The large investment in certain applications demands low prefire probability and low jitter simultaneously. For example, a system described herein is based on a 100 kV DC-charged high-pressure spark gap, triggered with an ultraviolet laser. The system uses a single optical path for simultaneously triggering two or more adjacent, axially spaced parallel switches, allowing lower inductance and electrode erosion with a simple optical system. Performance of the system includes 6 ns output rise time into 5:6Ω, 550 ps one-sigma jitter measured from the 5 V trigger to the high voltage output, and misfire probability less than 10−4.
The present invention provides a unique switch geometry coupled with a low-inductance capacitive energy store. The system provides a fast-rising high voltage pulse into a low impedance load.